HC Deb 03 November 1998 vol 318 cc527-8W
Mr. Dismore

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if he will make a statement on the outcome of the EU Social Affairs Council meeting on 27 October. [58318]

Mr. Andrew Smith

I attended the Council of Employment and Social Affairs Ministers in Luxembourg on 27 October.

The Commission presented its draft Employment Guidelines for 1999, its draft Joint Report on member states' implementation of their National Employment Actions Plans, and the Employment Rates Report. The Council broadly welcomed the proposed Guidelines. Detailed discussion of these documents will take place at Council meetings on 20 November and 1 December. The Guidelines and Joint Report will be put to the European Council for agreement in Vienna on 11–12 December. The Council also heard a report from the Chair of the Employment and Labour Market Committee on the timetable for producing employment reports in 1999.

The Council discussed a Presidency paper setting out the remaining areas for agreement on employee involvement within the proposed European Company Statute. The Presidency hopes to secure political agreement at the meeting of the Council on 2 December.

The Council had an open debate on the Commission's Social Action Programme 1998–2000. Many delegations supported the Action Programme's emphasis on promoting employment and tackling unemployment. No conclusions were drawn.

The Council noted progress reports on the reform of the Standing Committee on Employment, the proposed Council Directive on protecting the health and safety of workers potentially at risk from explosive atmospheres, the proposed extension to students of Regulation 1408/71 (social security for migrant workers), and the negotiations for the second phase of the LEONARDO DA VINCI vocational training programme.

The Council also noted the Commission's intention to proceed with a draft Council Directive on information and consultation of workers at national level, and noted Presidency reports on the informal meeting of Women's and Social Affairs Ministers in Innsbruck in July and the recent symposium in Vienna on "A Society for All Ages".